Columbus' Brandon Dubinsky suspended one game for hit on Sidney Crosby

Columbus Blue Jackets forward Brandon Dubinsky has been suspended for one game by the NHL Department of Player Safety for a cross-check on Pittsburgh Penguins forward Sidney Crosby. The ruling was announced after Dubinsky's hearing on Saturday.

The hit came Friday near the end of the second period of the Blue Jackets game against the Penguins. Crosby was jockeying for position in front of Columbus netminder Sergei Bobrovsky when Dubinsky delivered a hard cross-check to the back of Crosby's head.

Crosby fell to the ice and remained down while Penguins training staff came out to the ice and ushered him immediately to the dressing room with 1:20 left in the middle frame. He returned for the third period and played the rest of the game, a 2-1 Blue Jackets victory in OT.

In their ruling, the NHL concluded the hit was not "overly violent or forceful."

This isn't the first time things have become violent between Crosby and Dubinsky. The two engaged in a memorable fight just last February and contests between their two teams have become increasingly spirited recently after a tense playoff clash in 2014.

"If I was going to get one of those shots, it would probably be from him," Crosby said, via the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review.

For his part, Dubinsky said after the game he wasn't trying to deliberately hurt Crosby.

"I don't try and do anything dirty," he said, via the Columbus Post-Dispatch. "I felt like my stick ride up his back a little bit. He's kind of bent over there in front. But again, that's not the type of player I am. I'm going to play hard, but try and play fair and play in between the whistle."

Dubinsky will forfeit $31,451.61 in salary.

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